Fourth day for Tour de Yorkshire a ‘no-brainer’

Date:30th April 2017. Picture James Hardisty.
TDY Stage 3 Cote de Shibden Wall.
Hugh crowds line the route on Cote de Shibden Wall, Halifax, as the riders make their up this cobbled climb and head for the finish line in Sheffield.

The addition of an extra day to the Tour de Yorkshire in the future is a “no-brainer” but the decision lies with British Cycling, Sir Gary Verity said.

The Welcome to Yorkshire chief said he wanted the 2017 race to run over four days, saying that all parties involved in the event wanted the extension which he claimed would add another £10m to the economic benefits of the Tour to the region’s economy.

Crowds lined the streets of Calderdale on Sunday as the spectacle sped through the borough.

“An extra day wouldn’t cost any money,” Sir Gary said.

“UCI (the International Cycling Union) want it to be over four days, the teams want four days, women’s cycling want it four days, the public of Yorkshire wants four days. It’s a no-brainer.”

While he was delighted with how the 2016 race went, he said there was so much more that could be done to improve the event in the future.

“It’s been a huge success with bigger crowds than we had last year. The quality of the field was fantastic and I’m really pleased we have a fantastic champion in Thomas Voeckler - he is really popular with the crowds.

“We built on last year’s event and have some thoughts that we will debate in the office this week. Some of our ideas depend on if we get an extra day which will mean we can do a lot more for women’s cycling. Having a fourth day will have a massive impact. There is a lot more we can do, such as maybe having a time trial as part of the event.”